"Crack—"
A sharp crack sounded in the quiet air after the storm cleared.
The warship had already lost its anchor in the storm and had taken heavy damage from Weevil. After Aiden's final attack, it finally gave out.
The main frame snapped.
A huge gap opened in the middle of the hull. The entire warship split in two from the center.
The deck lost its support and tilted at once. The Marines, who had just been glad to survive, suddenly felt empty air under their feet. Their bodies slid toward the sea below.
"You brat!!"
Zephyr kicked off the air with Geppo and leaped up. He grabbed a broken mast with one hand and landed on a large piece of floating wreckage. He shouted at Aiden, who was still above them.
"What are you showing off for?! You split my ship in half?!"
Zephyr looked furious. This was a custom warship issued by Marine Headquarters for the Elite Training Camp. It was very expensive, and this kid had destroyed it with one strike.
"Cough..."
Aiden stayed in the air. He looked down at the mess below and scratched his head in embarrassment.
"Well... the old one was already falling apart anyway."
He shouted to Zephyr.
"Instructor, don't worry! This ship is on me! Later, I'll go to Water 7 and have their best shipwrights build you a custom warship! Even if I have to get Treasure Tree Adam wood, I'll get it for you!"
"Cut the nonsense!"
Zephyr was so angry he almost threw the mast in his hand.
"Is this the time to talk about that?! Where is your supply ship?! Hurry up and get your ship here to save these people!"
"Uh..."
Aiden looked away for a moment. He pointed at the distant fog and spoke with a guilty tone.
"Well... I was worried about you, so I came here as lightning first."
"As for my supply ship... that idiot Smoker is coming at full speed too, but he'll probably need a little more time to arrive."
Before Zephyr could curse out loud, the broken hull fell apart completely. It crashed into the water with a loud boom, raising huge waves.
Dozens of Marines fell into the sea.
For normal Marines, this was just swimming practice. But for the Devil Fruit users on the ship, it was a disaster.
"Ah—!!"
Ain, injured and exhausted, could only watch the dark blue sea rush closer.
Just as the cold seawater was about to swallow her,
"Zzzt—!"
A sharp crackle cut through the air.
A bolt of lightning shot past and stopped her fall.
Aiden appeared from the lightning beside Ain. He reached out and caught her in his arms.
"Are you okay?"
Aiden looked down at Ain and asked softly.
Ain opened her eyes in shock. The first thing she saw was Aiden's face right next to hers.
"Rear Admiral... Aiden?"
Ain froze.
Just a few hours ago, she had been talking about this famous Marine with Hina. She had even imagined what life at the G-17 Branch might be like after graduation. She never expected him to appear right in front of her and save her.
The relief of surviving, mixed with the shyness of being held by the person she admired, made her face turn red. Her heart beat hard. She had wanted to struggle at first, but her hands lost strength, and she grabbed Aiden's collar without thinking.
"Rear Admiral Aiden..."
Ain wanted to thank him.
Seeing Ain blush, Aiden almost smiled.
However.
Just as he was about to enjoy this rare heroic moment, he suddenly remembered Gion.
Aiden's body stiffened.
Looking at Ain's red face, Gion's smiling face appeared in his mind without warning. He also pictured the look Gion gave him when her hand rested on Konpira.
Even though he and Gion had not officially confirmed their relationship, if she found out he was holding Ain like this...
"Cough."
Aiden gave a dry cough and calmly let go with his arms. Then he grabbed the back of Ain's collar and held her away from him, keeping more than a meter between them.
"Well, Ain, let's keep this professional. We are Marines, so we need to be careful about how this looks."
Ain hung in the air, unsure where to put her hands. Looking at Aiden's serious face, she was completely confused.
Where did the gentle Aiden from just a moment ago go?
"Glub glub... Help... Help me..."
Right then, a miserable cry for help came from the sea below.
The unlucky Binz had already fallen into the water. As another Devil Fruit user, he had no strength left. He was splashing around while swallowing seawater.
"Rear Admiral Aiden! I'm a Devil Fruit user too! Hurry... glub... save me!"
Aiden looked down at him.
His fingers moved slightly. He used his power to pull over a piece of warship wreckage floating on the waves, then waved his hand.
Aiden tossed the piece of wreckage toward Binz, and it landed in the water within his reach.
"Hold onto it."
Aiden shouted.
"You're already in the water, so I won't go down to pull you out. I am also a Devil Fruit user. If I touch seawater, I'll lose my strength too, and then we'd both sink."
"Th... thank you, Rear Admiral!"
Binz held tightly onto the wreckage. He finally got his head out of the water and panted heavily.
--------------
Hina was grabbing onto a broken half-mast. Half her body was already soaked in the cold seawater. The seawater drained her strength, leaving her limp. She looked like she couldn't hold on much longer.
"Aiden!"
Hina gritted her teeth. Looking at the jerk above them who was pretending to be serious while holding Ain and throwing a plank to Binz, she grew furious.
"Hina doesn't want to fall in! Hurry up and pull Hina up!"
Hearing the shout, Aiden turned his head to look.
He was about to go over and lift Hina up too.
But just as he got ready to move, his Observation Haki sensed Smoker's familiar presence on the distant horizon.
The supply ship with the G-17 flag finally broke through the remaining thin fog and appeared in sight.
"Smoker is here?"
Aiden raised an eyebrow and stopped moving.
This is Smoker's moment.
Thinking this, Aiden flicked his foot up and kicked a piece of broken ship railing.
"Bang!"
The wooden plank shot forward with a whooshing sound. It landed in the seawater right under Hina's feet, wedging into the gap of the mast and giving her a stable place to stand.
"Hold on a bit longer. Your rescue is here," Aiden said, pointing into the distance.
Hina stepped on the plank and steadied herself. She smoothed out her wet hair. She looked at Smoker rushing over in the distance, then glared at Aiden above them and scoffed.
"Hmph, next time I see Rear Admiral Gion, Hina will definitely tell her everything I saw today exactly as it happened."
"Hey! Don't stab me in the back like that!" Aiden's mouth twitched.
...
Meanwhile, Zephyr was still pulling people from the water.
Even though Zephyr had used up a lot of energy in the earlier battle, the former Admiral could still move. He pulled the struggling or unconscious recruits out of the water one by one and set them safely on larger pieces of wreckage.
Just as he prepared to swim back, he caught sight of a short figure struggling in the water.
Bakkin.
This old woman, who had just been acting arrogant and ordering her son to commit murder, was now helpless in the sea. She waved her arms desperately, her eyes full of fear.
Zephyr paused for a moment.
Only for a second.
The next second, he grabbed the back of Bakkin's collar.
"Splash!"
Bakkin was pulled out of the water and tossed onto a floating piece of deck wreckage.
She lay there on her stomach, throwing up mouthfuls of salty seawater, her entire body shaking.
When she lifted her head and saw Zephyr looking coldly at her, all the bitter and mean words she usually kept on her lips disappeared. She couldn't say a word.
Zephyr didn't look at her again or say anything. He simply turned around and continued searching for his other students.
Zephyr was that kind of man.
Even if he was betrayed, as long as the other side had lost the ability to fight back, he would never just stand by and watch them die.
...
As time passed, the surviving Marines started pulling each other onto large pieces of floating debris.
Seeing that everyone was safe, Aiden stopped staying in the air like a target.
He found a large, flat piece of wreckage and slowly landed on it with Ain.
Feeling solid ground beneath his feet, Aiden let out a long breath.
But immediately after, as if remembering something, he frowned slightly.
"Something's not right..."
Aiden rubbed his chin, thinking hard.
"Why hasn't there been any response?"
Based on his past experience, after killing someone that strong, the system should have already confirmed the kill and given the reward. It usually came with that pleasant "Ding" sound.
Especially someone like Edward Weevil.
That guy had the body of a young Whitebeard. He should be worth a lot of experience.
His Peak Physique reward should basically be guaranteed by now.
But right now...
"Did I not hear it because I was too busy saving people just now?"
Aiden scratched his head, uncertain.
He opened his system panel and refreshed it several times.
Empty.
There were no records at all regarding a "Successful Judgment."
"Um... Rear Admiral Aiden?"
Just as Aiden started doubting himself, a weak voice spoke up beside him.
Aiden paused and turned to look.
Ain was standing stiffly on her tiptoes, her face completely red.
And Aiden's hand was still tightly gripping the back of her collar, lifting her off the ground and holding her in the air.
From the moment they landed until now, because Aiden had been thinking about the system rewards, he had completely forgotten to put her down.
Ain, watching the person she admired lost in thought, assumed he was thinking about something important. She held her breath and didn't dare make a sound, simply letting herself hang there.
"Cough! Sorry, sorry!"
Aiden quickly let go. His face blushed, which was a rare sight.
"Well... I was thinking about that pirate and got distracted."
Ain's feet touched the ground. She adjusted her tight collar, blushed, and shook her head. "It's... it's fine..."
"Right, that pirate!"
Aiden suddenly realized that now was not the time to be awkward.
If he didn't receive a notification, it meant Weevil wasn't dead!
If that guy was just badly injured, unconscious, and sinking into the sea, and ended up drowning right now, would the system count it as a "natural death"?
If that happened, wouldn't all his rewards disappear?!
"Damn it! That absolutely cannot happen!"
Aiden grew anxious in an instant.
He released his Observation Haki without holding back, scanning toward the depths of the sea.
He looked even more desperate now than when he was saving Zephyr earlier.
"Where is he? Where? Don't die! You absolutely can't die! Keep one breath left so I can deal the finishing blow!"
Far away, on the horizon.
Smoker's supply ship finally arrived.
On the ship's bow, Smoker looked at the wreckage-filled sea ahead and all his colleagues soaking in the water. He was just getting ready to direct the rescue.
Suddenly.
"Swish!"
Aiden appeared at his ship's bow.
He grabbed Smoker's collar, pointed at a patch of sea to the front right, and shouted urgently.
"Quick! Bring out all the fishing nets, ropes, and hooks!"
"Cast the nets over there! That big idiot is sinking!"
"Hurry up and fish him out! You have to fish him out! I want him alive! He has to be alive! If he dies, he's worthless!"
Smoker stared at him in complete confusion.
To Be Continued
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